Stockton City Council is set to appoint serial political candidate and long-time event producer Steve Colangelo as interim city manager.
Colangelo’s career highlights include nearly 40 years of event producing and event rental management, several failed bids for elected office, and overseeing the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds as CEO when a state audit found evidence of financial mismanagement.
However, councilmembers will consider approval of Colangelo’s contract at a council meeting Tuesday. He is set to receive more than $20,000 in monthly salary and can look forward to a pay bump at the start of the next fiscal year in July.
After five years with the city, former City Manager Harry Black agreed to resign last month in lieu of being fired, a result of a political shakeup on the council. Only a few months earlier, Black’s contract was extended for another four years and he was given a pay raise following a positive performance review.
If Colangelo’s contract is approved Tuesday, he will take over the helm from Acting City Manager Will Crew — who serves as a deputy city manager for Stockton — next week.
The council expects a permanent city manager to be in place by early August and will discuss the hiring process following the vote on Colangelo’s appointment as interim.
A previous posting for the job called for candidates to have experience as a city manager or deputy, and a four-year degree. Colangelo’s online resume and previous campaign material don’t indicate either of those. A phone call and multiple emails to Colangelo seeking comment went unanswered Sunday.
Tuesday’s agenda doesn’t include a resume for Colangelo. It’s also unclear how Colangelo was recruited for the interim city manager job or whether any other candidates may have been considered.
His appointment would break decades of typical city protocol. Five of the last interim and acting city managers since 2006 have been Stockton deputy city managers.
According to City Council documents, councilmembers met in closed session on Jan. 21 to discuss a “public employee/public employment appointment.” No other information was provided on the meeting’s agenda and no announcement of any action taken by councilmembers was announced following the meeting’s closed session.
The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting provides more detail of what happened during that closed session discussion last month. Councilmembers are described as having “deliberated the appointment of Steve Colangelo as Interim City Manager and directed the City Attorney to make an offer, and if accepted, negotiate an employment contract with Steve Colangelo.”
Councilmember Brando Villapudua told Stocktonia Monday that there had been no search or hiring process ahead of Colangelo’s possible appointment. He expressed confusion over why the council wouldn’t just use City Hall personnel to fill the role until a search for a permanent city manager can be conducted.
“Why do we have to go outside? Does this person even have the requirements of a city manager,” Villapudua said, noting that city manager is one of the most important positions in the city. “We’re talking about a city where (Colangelo) has to take care of millions and millions of dollars of our city. Is he ready for that?”
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi’s office emphasized to Stocktonia Monday evening that the appointment of Colangelo is temporary. Fugazi reiterated that point in a video on social media when talking about what’s on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Now this isn’t our forever city manager. This is merely an interim city manager,” Fugazi says, acknowledging that people have said to her they are concerned she has gone with an outside hire for the role. “So just know when you look at that, I’m thinking about within.”
She did not directly address Colangelo’s qualifications.
The proposal to install Colangelo on the job is listed on Tuesday’s consent agenda. Unless a member asks to consider the proposal separately, Colangelo could be appointed without council discussion.
Stocktonia asked each member of the council about the move to appoint Colangelo. Other than Villapudua, none responded to comment.
Colangelo’s qualifications for the job
The city laid out qualifications when Black was hired in 2020.
Those included having “a proven track record of leadership, project management and a high level of political acumen,” as well as previous experience as a city manager or assistant city manager for a large organization – though the job listing also indicates that “other high level executive experience may be considered.”
A four-year degree from an accredited college or university was also required.
Colangelo, a “lifelong resident of California’s Central Valley,” who describes himself in political fillings as a small business owner, has worked in the event hosting business for the better part of four decades as a producer and rental supplies retailer.
Colangelo also ran several unsuccessful campaigns for elected public office.
He didn’t make it out of the primaries in his bid to represent California’s former 9th Congressional District in 2014, which was ultimately won by incumbent Jerry McNerney. He then lost to Dan Wright in 2016 in the race for Stockton City Council’s District 2. Colangelo’s most recent attempt in seeking political office was in 2022 when ran against now-Supervisor Steve Ding.
In his early career, Colangelo worked as an announcer and on-air personality for several Central Valley radio stations, according to his campaign websites, as well as an auxiliary officer for the Sacramento Police Department.
He doesn’t list any post-high school education on campaign websites or his LinkedIn page.
Stocktonia’s multiple attempts to contact Colangelo were unsuccessful.
Local news reports also say Colangelo served on the boards of the Stockton Convention and Visitors Bureau, now known as Visit Stockton, and the Stockton Asparagus Festival.
He’s also since served on various boards and committees, according to his online presence, including the Central Valley Taxpayers Association and the American Rental Association’s Government Affairs Committee.
One job that had elements of running a public agency was Colangelo’s short tenure as CEO of the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, which ended shortly after a state audit found the fairgrounds had been financially mismanaged.
What happened at the SJ County Fairgrounds
Colangelo was hired as the interim chief executive officer for the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in May 2018 following the termination of former CEO Kelly Olds, according to the fairgrounds board agendas. In August that year, Colangelo landed the job permanently and served in the role until around January 2020.
Just prior to Colangelo’s departure, a scathing audit on the fairgrounds’ financials and corresponding processes was finalized in December 2019 by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
CDFA auditors found widespread problems with the fairgrounds’ internal controls between Jan. 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, according to a copy of their report posted on the fairgrounds’ web site.
Written agreements with people and businesses who rented fairgrounds space were sloppy or nonexistent — sometimes resulting in the fairgrounds not collecting or even over collecting revenue from renters, the report found. Thousands of dollars of fairgrounds’ debit card purchases were missing receipts, and thousands more in grocery purchases weren’t justified, it found.
Fairgrounds’ policies for handing out contracts were lax: in one case, an employee’s brother received nearly $13,000 in payments with no contract, the report said. And auditors found many more examples of financial and other mismanagement.
One employee was even found to be signing his own checks, among myriad other issues.
The state’s audit was finalized Dec. 18, 2019. Overall, auditors reported 11 areas where the fairgrounds showed “material weaknesses and significant deficiencies within (its) administrative controls and operating practices.” The report also made nearly 40 recommendations to improve fairgrounds “internal controls, operations, and compliance with state laws and regulations.”
Agenda documents for the fairgrounds Board of Directors and executive and finance committees do not indicate why or exactly when Colangelo left his role as CEO. Minutes for fairgrounds meetings have also not been posted online since 2019.
The fairgrounds list Colangelo as CEO for the last time on Jan. 22, 2020. An interim CEO is then listed the following month.
The San Joaquin County Fairgrounds did not immediately respond to Stocktonia’s request for comment Monday regarding the audit or Colangelo’s departure.
Public documents from the fairgrounds show that its board was still working through July 2024 on correcting issues found by the state’s audit and implementing suggestions made by auditors.
When asked what he thought about Colangelo’s possible appointment as Stockton’s city manager, fairgrounds board member Joel Reyna said: “I think given the city of Stockton’s challenges, history and needs, we have to do all we can to recruit and vet candidates who have a proven record of managing an entity the size of Stockton.”